Navigation method for wheeled mobile robot using streamline of complex potential flow

Abstract

In this paper, new navigation method for wheeled mobile robot using streamline of complex potential flow is proposed. In the past, the potential field method for robot navigation was pointed out that oscillations are inevitable. The authors adopted the streamline as the robot trajectory and show that it makes smaller oscillation than the conventional potential field method. Instead of using velocity obtained from the gradient of potential, following the streamline is easier and shows the less oscillation and better maneuvering in obstacle avoidance. The results from several simulations and experiments show the better performances.